Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
  • B01F23/00—Mixing according to the phases to be mixed, e.g. dispersing or emulsifying
  • B01F23/20—Mixing gases with liquids
  • B01F23/23—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids
  • B01F23/236—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids specially adapted for aerating or carbonating beverages
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23L—FOODS, FOODSTUFFS, OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES A21D OR A23B-A23J; THEIR PREPARATION OR TREATMENT, e.g. COOKING, MODIFICATION OF NUTRITIVE QUALITIES, PHYSICAL TREATMENT; PRESERVATION OF FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS, IN GENERAL
  • A23L2/00—Non-alcoholic beverages; Dry compositions or concentrates therefor; Their preparation
  • A23L2/52—Adding ingredients
  • A23L2/54—Mixing with gases
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/40—Beverage-making apparatus with dispensing means for adding a measured quantity of ingredients, e.g. coffee, water, sugar, cocoa, milk, tea
  • A47J31/407—Beverage-making apparatus with dispensing means for adding a measured quantity of ingredients, e.g. coffee, water, sugar, cocoa, milk, tea with ingredient-containing cartridges; Cartridge-perforating means
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/44—Parts or details or accessories of beverage-making apparatus
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/44—Parts or details or accessories of beverage-making apparatus
  • A47J31/4403—Constructional details
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
  • B01F23/00—Mixing according to the phases to be mixed, e.g. dispersing or emulsifying
  • B01F23/20—Mixing gases with liquids
  • B01F23/23—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids
  • B01F23/237—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids characterised by the physical or chemical properties of gases or vapours introduced in the liquid media
  • B01F23/2376—Mixing gases with liquids by introducing gases into liquid media, e.g. for producing aerated liquids characterised by the physical or chemical properties of gases or vapours introduced in the liquid media characterised by the gas being introduced
  • B01F23/23762—Carbon dioxide
  • B01F23/237621—Carbon dioxide in beverages
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/70—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for materials not otherwise provided for
  • B65D85/804—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23V—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND LACTIC OR PROPIONIC ACID BACTERIA USED IN FOODSTUFFS OR FOOD PREPARATION
  • A23V2002/00—Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01F—MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING
  • B01F2101/00—Mixing characterised by the nature of the mixed materials or by the application field
  • B01F2101/06—Mixing of food ingredients
  • B01F2101/14—Mixing of ingredients for non-alcoholic beverages; Dissolving sugar in water

Definitions

• Sparkling drinks are manufactured by dissolving carbon dioxide in liquid, typically by pressurizing the liquid with carbon dioxide. When pressure of the sparkling drink is low, bubbles of carbon dioxide may be formed and come out of the solution.
• Carbon dioxide is typically provided as pressurized gas in pressurized tanks or cartridges.
• Carbonated water may be made by rechargeable soda siphon, or a disposable carbon dioxide cartridge.
• the soda siphon may be filled with chilled water and carbon dioxide may be added under pressure. Sparkling drinks produced this way tend to be only slightly gassy.
• carbonators or carbonation machines may be used. Carbonators range from home scale machines such as Sodas treamTM to large scale carbonators. Carbonators pump water into a pressurized chamber where it is combined with CO 2 from pressurized tanks. The pressurized, carbonated water may be mixed with flavorings, typically in the form of syrups.
• pressurized CO 2 tanks are expensive to manufacture and require careful handling. Transportation of the pressurized CO 2 tanks is complicated due to their high weight and high pressure. Also, it is not allowed to send pressurized CO 2 tanks by air in plains. In addition, refill of a pressurized C0 2 tank requires that the tank will be taken to a service site, which is a burden.
• CO 2 may also be provided by chemical reaction of, for example, sodium bicarbonate and citric acid.
• this method is impractical since the chemical reaction results in other materials such as salts that may influence and degrade the taste of the drink. Separating the liquid from the salt is complicated and renders this approach impractical.
• US Patent No. 5,182,084 to Plester discloses a portable carbonator which includes a built-in CO 2 supply system operated on disposable gas generating cartridges. CO 2 is generated by a chemical reaction between reagents which carbonates and/or propels the water.
• the system disclosed in US 5,182,084 is meant to maintain a constant gaseous pressure whenever carbonated water is drawn.
• the carbonator disclosed in US 5,182,084 is very complicated, involves a lot of mechanical elements, stationary and movable (dynamic), as depicted for example in Fig. 4.
• US Patent No. 5,350,587 to Plester discloses a CO 2 gas generator which chemically generates the gas from a chemical reaction between two reagents contained within a common container.
• the generator aims to automatically provide gas so as to maintain the gas headspace pressure in constant reference to a reference pressure. While claiming to provide a device that is easy to use by non-professional users based on disposable gas generator units, in practice the device according to this patent, as may be seen for example in Figs. 3A - 3L, involves highly complicated mechanical elements including containers within containers, mechanical valves made to control the disposing of the gas and the releasing of the reagents, etc.
• US Patent No. 4,636,337 to Gupta discloses device and method for dispensing gas CO 2 to carbonate water.
• the device and method employ gas generator using two chemically active reagents in the presence of water.
• the device teaches a bleed to maintain the pressure in the headspace at sufficiently high levels while allowing continuous flow of CO 2 through the carbonated liquid.
• US Patent No. 5,192,513 to Stumphauzer discloses device and method for rapid carbonation of water using chemical reaction taking place in one pressure vessel, transferring the C0 2 to a second pressure vessel.
• One object of the disclosed device and method is to provide a simple, inexpensive and efficient process for rapidly generating CO 2 and carbonating water.
• the apparatus as disclosed for example in Fig. 1, is very complicated and includes a large number of parts, which drives it away from being simple.
• US Patent No. 5,021,219 to Rudick discloses device and method for self regulating CO 2 gas generator for carbonating liquids.
• the gas generator consists of two liquid chambers for containing to liquid reagents that when chemically adjoined react and produce the gas.
• the devices disclosed are complicated, include large number of parts and do not operate with disposable reagent packages.
• GB Patent No. 323102 to Blaxter discloses carbonating apparatus pumping carbonated water together with carbon dioxide to a carbonating vessel which is also supplied with de-aerated water pumped into that vessel and to a mixing pump that provide the water and the carbon dioxide to a carbonating vessel.
• US Patent Publication No. 2011/226343 to Novak et al. discloses system method and cartridge for carbonating a precursor liquid to form a beverage.
• the system and method disclosed by Novak et al. requires charging Zeolite with carbon dioxide by exposing the zeolite to a temperature of 550°C for a period of 5 hours in a furnace and then immediately transferring the zeolite beads to a sealed metal container, flooding the container with carbon dioxide and pressurizing the container to 5-32 psig for 1 hour. During this process the zeolite beads are charged with carbon dioxide which may be released when exposed to water or other fluids as well as water vapor and humidity.
• the charged zeolite must be packed in a humidity free facility and in a humidity resistant packaging. It may be appreciated that the above charging process makes the preparation of a cartridge for the preparation of a carbonated beverage relatively expensive. Another disadvantage of the above system and method is the charged zeolite is highly sensitive to humidity and any interaction with humidity or fluids activates the release of carbon dioxide from the cartridge. Thus, the shelf life of such cartridges is limited and requires handling with care to avoid mechanical damage to the sealed packaging of the zeolite in the cartridge.
• a device for providing carbon dioxide gas comprising a pressure- sealed pressure chamber adapted to be filled with substance that includes carbon dioxide, a gas conduit connected at its proximal end to said chamber to provide said gas from said chamber, heat energy unit to provide energy to heat said substance in said chamber and a safety pressure outlet to relief pressure from said chamber when said pressure exceeds predefined pressure level, wherein said chamber comprising a base element and a cap element, said base element and said cap element are adapted to keep pressure inside said chamber in closed position and to open and allow inserting and removing substance when in opened position.
• the method may further comprise activating circulating means to pump liquid from said bottle and to spray it back into the bottle.
• the method may be characterized so that the providing of heat is done by energizing electrical heater located around said chamber, by using a microwave based heating element, or by providing induction heating energy to the substance.
• a method for producing sparkling drinks comprising providing pressure chamber and a pressure-sealable bottle-feeding pipe connectable to a bottle, attaching a bottle filled with liquid to the pressure-sealed bottle-feeding pipe in a pressure sealed manner, placing substance that includes carbon dioxide in the chamber, pressure sealing the chamber and providing heat to the substrate.
• the device may further comprise container cap disposed so that the conduit passes via the cap in a pressure-sealed manner, and the cap is disposed in a distance from the distal end of the conduit so as to ensure that when a container filled with liquid is adapted to and secured said container cap said distal end of said conduit is submerged in said liquid.
• the device may further comprise circulating means comprising that comprise circulating pump, inlet conduit connected to said pump at its inlet port and made to have its free end submerged in said liquid in said container when said container is attached to said device and filled with liquid and outlet conduit connected to said pump at its outlet port and made to spray liquid received from said pump in the headspace of said container.
• circulating means comprising that comprise circulating pump, inlet conduit connected to said pump at its inlet port and made to have its free end submerged in said liquid in said container when said container is attached to said device and filled with liquid and outlet conduit connected to said pump at its outlet port and made to spray liquid received from said pump in the headspace of said container.
• a capsule for producing gas in a device for providing carbon dioxide gas comprising sodium bicarbonate in one of solid, powder, wet powder, solution, emulsion and suspension form.
• the capsule may further comprise at least one additive form the list comprising: taste additive, flavor additive, and color additive.
• the additive(s) may be in either solid state or fluid state.
• the capsule may comprise, additionally or alternatively, chips of ferrous or other material with high magnetic permeability.
• the capsule may be encapsulated in a thin envelope of non-ferrous material, where the envelope has one or more punctures made in its wall to allow releasing of gas produced in the envelope.
• the envelope may have more than one compartment. At least one of the compartments may comprise a carbon dioxide carrier material in a solid or powder form and at least one additional compartment may comprise a fluid to wet the carbon dioxide carrier material prior to heating the envelope in order to initiate the gas release from the carbon dioxide carrier material.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a carbonating system, according to embodiments of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a system for providing pressurized gas for the production of sparkling drinks according to embodiments of the present invention
• FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a system for providing gas for the production of sparkling drinks according to embodiments of the present invention
• FIG. 4 is schematic illustration of a system for providing gas for the production of sparkling drinks according to embodiments of the present invention
• Fig. 5 is schematic illustration of a system for providing gas for the production of sparkling drinks according to embodiments of the present invention
• FIGs. 6A and 6B are cross section views of two forms of gas production units made across the middle of the gas production units, according to two embodiments of the present invention.
• Fig. 7 is a cross section view of a gas production unit made across the middle of the gas production unit, according to embodiments of the present invention.
• FIGs. 8A and 8B are flowchart illustrations of methods for providing gas, such as CO 2 , for the production of, for example, sparkling drinks, according to embodiments of the present invention.
• the terms “plurality” and “a plurality” as used herein may include, for example, “multiple” or “two or more”.
• the terms “plurality” or “a plurality” may be used throughout the specification to describe two or more components, devices, elements, units, parameters, or the like.
• the method embodiments described herein are not constrained to a particular order or sequence. Additionally, some of the described method embodiments or elements thereof can occur or be performed at the same point in time.
• Heating of compositions to a temperature that is higher than the thermal decomposition temperature of that composition, in order to decomposite it is well known.
• heating compositions to a temperature that is higher than the phase transition temperature in order to cause the composition to undergo phase transition is well known.
• heating a composition that includes CO 2 to a temperature that is higher than the thermal decomposition temperature may decomposite it and thus may cause the decomposed material to release CO 2 .
• calcination, or calcination reaction for example, when limestone is calcinated the chemical reaction is expressed:
• the calcination process decomposed the lime stone to lime (calcium oxide) and carbon dioxide.
• lime calcium oxide
• carbon dioxide Well known examples of calcination processes, mostly held in large (industrial) scales are meant to remove certain undesired components from the composition.
• Another example is the decomposition of volatile matter contained in raw petroleum coke and yet another example is the removal of ammonium ions in the synthesis of zeolites.
• Use of pairs of reagents for the production of CO 2 requires means for keeping the reagents apart from each other until the chemical reaction takes place and in many devices known in the art complicated and bulky carbonating apparatuses are required in order to control the process of the carbonation.
• Use of pressurized CO 2 containers is typically less complicated then the use of carbonating devices based on chemical reaction of pairs of reagents, however handling the containers of the pressurized CO 2 is typically inconvenient and - with non-disposable containers there is the burden of carrying the filled containers from the store and the empty ones back there.
• the inventor of the invention embodiments of which are described herein below has discovered that the amount of CO 2 that may be released from a relatively small amount of sodium bicarbonate during calcination process is relatively very large. For example, from a tablet of sodium bicarbonate weighing 35 grams, when calcinated at temperatures of about 60-200 degrees centigrade CO 2 is released in an amount that is enough to carbonate water or similar liquid in the amount of 1.5 liter having carbonation level of about 2 to 4 volumes, and temperature of 2 to 15 degrees. This ratio of CO 2 production is very high compared to other known methods. This allows producing, at the desire of a user, amount of CO 2 that is enough for a 1 liter container from a sodium bicarbonate tablet weighing about 25g.
• Heating of materials such as sodium bicarbonate (NaHC03) or other substances that include Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), herein after referred to as CO 2 carrier, may release CO 2 gas.
• materials such as sodium bicarbonate (NaHC03) or other substances that include Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), herein after referred to as CO 2 carrier, may release CO 2 gas.
• sparkling drinks also referred to as carbonated drinks
• the use of wet powder, suspension or solution of CO 2 carrier such as sodium bicarbonate
• heating 25 grams of dry sodium bicarbonate powder to a temperature of 180°C will yield 2 liters of CO 2 gas in approximately 100-130 seconds.
• Using the same amount of sodium bicarbonate in a solution form will produce the same volume of CO 2 gas, in similar rate, when heated to a temperature lower than 180°C. It would be appreciated that heating the solution to higher temperatures will provide a higher gas production rate.
• heating sodium bicarbonate to a temperature of over 200°C (degrees Celsius) may cause the sodium bicarbonate particles to be sealed and the CO 2 may then be trapped within the particles of the powder.
• the solvent used for the solution or suspension or the fluid used to wet the powder may be water, edible oil or aromatic oils.
• the fluid used as a solvent or to wet the powder may be a flavored fluid.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of carbonating system 10, according to embodiments of the present invention.
• System 10 may comprise CO 2 production unit
• Gas production unit 20 which is connected via gas conduit 23 and through gas disposing plug 24 to gas disposing port 23 A.
• Gas production unit 20 may comprise a gas production base element 20B, gas production cap element 20A, heat energy supply unit 20C and pressure safety valve 20D.
• Base element 20B and cap element 20A are designed to form a pressure tight chamber 21 having two outlets.
• First outlet is the connection to gas conduit 23. This outlet is used for providing pressurized CO 2 when system 10 in use for carbonating.
• a second outlet is possible via safety valve 20D, when the pressure inside chamber 21 is higher than a predefined value.
• Gas conduit 23 may have, close to its distal end, gas disposing plug 24 that may be adapted to tightly and securely attach a container, such as liquid container 100, and gas disposing port 23A adapted to be submerged in the liquid in container 100, in order to provide CO 2 to it.
• Chamber 21 is designed to accommodate certain amount of CO 2 carrier material, for example in the form of a tablet (or capsule), such as tablet 15.
• CO 2 carrier material such as sodium bicarbonate and is tightly closed
• the carrier material may be heated by heat energy supply unit 20C when energized by electrical energy.
• heat energy supply unit 20C may be released and when its pressure climbs high enough (higher than the idle pressure in conduit 23 and container 100) CO 2 starts flowing into container 100 and carbonation of the liquid in container 100 begins.
• the rate of CO 2 production and supply may be controlled, for example, by the control of the temperature of the decomposition.
• system 200 may include high pressure chamber 204 comprising chamber cap element 204A and chamber base element 204B.
• Pressure chamber 204 is connectable to liquid container (or bottle) 201 through pressure-sealed bottle-feeding pipe 202.
• Pipe 202 may connect to chamber 204 at one end and to bottle 201, through pipe outlet 202B, at the other end.
• Pipe outlet 202B may be inserted to bottle 1, and bottle cap 202A may be assembled onto pipe 202 to enable sealing the connection of pipe 202 to bottle 201.
• CO 2 carrier material unit 205 may be placed in chamber 204 before its cap element 204A and base element 204B are tightly closed to each other.
• System 200 may also include heating device 207 for heating pressure chamber 204 and its carrier material unit 205 contained in it.
• CO 2 carrier material unit 205 inside pressure chamber 204 is heated, and C0 2 gas is released into pressure chamber 204.
• the released gas may flow from pressure chamber 204 into bottle 201 through pipe 202, bottle cap 202 A and pipe outlet 202B.
• at work system 200 may be under pressure of 20 - 150 psi, or higher.
• bottle cap 202A and pipe outlet 202B forming the connection of system 200 to bottle 201 should sustain the pressure levels of system 200 and be pressure-sealed at these pressure levels, and so should be pressure chamber 204, bottle 201, and pipe 202.
• the boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
• raising the pressure surrounding the liquid will result in raising the temperature in which the fluid reaches the boiling point. That is, a liquid at high surrounding pressure has a higher boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure.
• CO 2 carrier material may be placed within CO 2 carrier material unit 205 inside pressure chamber 204 and may be wet prior to heating.
• the fluid serves as a thermal conductor as long as the fluid that wets the CO 2 carrier material remains in a liquid state. Since pressure chamber 204 is pressure sealed, heating of CO 2 carrier material in pressure chamber 204 raises the pressure in the chamber 204, and thus raises the temperature in which the fluid in chamber 204 vapors.
• the fluid preserves its thermal conducting characteristics at higher temperatures than under atmospheric pressure and thus remains effective as a thermal conductor during the heating process of the CO 2 carrier material to temperatures of over 100°C.
• heating device 207 may be an induction heating device. According to other embodiments heating device 207 may be a microwave heater.
• System 200 may include a temperature regulator 206 that may include a temperature sensor to measure the temperature inside chamber 204 and provide feedback to heating device 207 so as to regulate the temperature to be, for example, between 150 to 400 degrees Celsius. It would be appreciated that when CO 2 carrier material in unit 205 is in a wet form lower temperatures may be required. Furthermore, as noted above, when carrier material is sodium bicarbonate, heating to a temperature of over 200 degrees Celsius is not beneficial.
• CO 2 carrier material unit 205 may be provided in any suitable form such as powder (either dry or wet), tablet, capsule etc. CO 2 carrier material unit 205 may be mixed or otherwise provided with various other flavoring materials that may be released as gas and mix with the drink.
• a tablet may include a layer of sodium bicarbonate and a plurality of layers of additives.
• Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of system 300 for providing gas for the production of sparkling drinks according to embodiments of the present invention.
• System 300 may be very much similar to system 200 of Fig. 2, however it may further comprise a fan 303 to cool the gas flowing in pipe 320 which may be, for example, spiral shaped to enable more efficient cooling of the produced gas.
• System 400 may comprise CO 2 production unit 20 which is connected via gas conduit 23 and through gas disposing plug 24 to gas disposing port 23 A.
• Gas production unit 20 may comprise a gas production base element 20B, gas production cap element 20A, heat energy supply unit 20C and pressure safety valve 20D.
• Base element 20B and cap element 20A are designed to form a pressure tight chamber 21 having two outlets.
• First outlet is the connection to gas conduit 23. This outlet is used for providing pressurized CO 2 when system 400 is in use for carbonating.
• a second outlet is enabled via safety valve 20D, when the pressure inside chamber 21 is higher than a predefined value.
• Gas conduit 23 may have, close to its distal end, gas disposing plug 24 that may be adapted to tightly attach a container, such as liquid container 100, and gas disposing port 23 A adapted to be submerged in the liquid in container 100, in order to provide CO 2 to it.
• Chamber 21 may be designed and may function similarly to chamber 21 described with respect to Fig. 1.
• gas production unit 20 may further have an inlet (not shown) for introducing fluid from a source (such as liquid container 100), external to gas production unit 20, into pressure tight chamber 21, to wet a C02 carrier material placed within chamber 21 in solid or dry powder form.
• a source such as liquid container 100
• the inlet into chamber 21 may further comprise a unidirectional valve (not shown) to prevent gas produced in chamber 21 to exit through the unidirectional valve.
• fluid introduced into chamber 21 may be water. According to other embodiments the fluid introduced into chamber 21 may be water with additives, such as flavor and/or color additives. In yet additional embodiments of the present invention, fluid introduced into chamber 21 may be edible oil and/or aromatic oil. According to other embodiments, the fluid may be an emulsion of water and oil such as aromatic oil. It would be appreciated that other fluids may be used.
• System 400 may further comprise circulation means 40, such as a pump, that is adapted to pump liquid from container 100 via conduit 40 A, the distal end of which is adapted to be submerged in the liquid in container 100 and to return that liquid via conduit 40B into container 100.
• conduits 40A and 40B may pass via disposing plug 24, however other embodiments may be utilized.
• conduits 40A and 40B may pass through a heat exchanger (not shown) to cool down the fluid in conduits 40A and 40B to a desired temperature.
• the end of conduit 40B that is distal from circulation means 40 may be in a distance from plug 24 that will ensure that it will remain out of the liquid in container 100 when container 100 is substantially in upright position.
• the liquid that is returned via conduit 40B may be sprayed into the headspace of container 100, for example by forming the distal end of conduit 40B to provide liquid in the form of a spray. Circulation caused by the operation of circulation means 40 may improve (i.e.
• circulation means 40 may be activated continuously or periodically during the production of gas by gas production unit 20 to enable dissolving of larger amounts of gas in the liquid.
• An acidity indicator that was placed in container 100 indicated repeating raise of acidity of the liquid in container 100 as the activation of circulation means continued, which indicates that the amount of CO 2 gas in container 100 grew with the activation of circulation means 40. It would be appreciated that any other system and method known in the art for dissolving CO 2 gas in the liquid in container 100 may be used.
• FIG. 5 is schematic illustration of system 500 for providing gas for the production of sparkling drinks according to embodiments of the present invention.
• Chamber 20, conduit 23, plug 24 and gas disposing port 23A are built and may function very much like their respective elements in the embodiment of Fig. 1.
• System 500 may further comprise pressure control unit 30, comprising pressure transmitter/gauge reading 30A, pressure control unit 30B and heat control line 30C.
• the pressure of the produced gas may be measured in the gas conduit 23 or in similar location.
• the gas pressure indication may be provided by pressure control unit 30B.
• Pressure control unit may be acting as a simple ON/OFF unit that may turn off heat energy supply unit 20C when the measured gas pressure exceeds a first predefined value and resume heating when that pressure falls below a second predefined pressure value.
• control unit 30B may perform more complicated control functions, such a combination of one or more of proportional, derivative and integral (PID) of the difference between the measured pressure and a reference value.
• PID proportional, derivative and integral
• Other control functions may also be utilized, to achieve faster response, more accurate resulting pressure, and the like. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the amount of heat transferred to the active material, such as tablet 15 of Figs. 1, 4 and 5 or tablet 205 of Figs 2 and 3, has an effect on the total amount and rate of release of produced gas, so that when the amount of heat provided causes tablet 15 or tablet 205 to reach temperature that is higher than the decomposition temperature gas will begin to release and temperature higher than that will increase the rate of release.
• Heat may be transferred to tablets, according to embodiments of the present invention, in one or more from a list various heating methods.
• Figs. 6A and 6B are cross section side views of two different forms of gas production units 620 and 630, respectively, made across the middle of the gas production units, and to Figs. 6C, 6D and 6E, 6F which are optional top views of same, according to two embodiments of the present invention.
• Gas production units 620 and 630 are designed to transfer heat to respective tablets 650 and 652 in heat conduction mechanism. Heat is produced in heat energy supply unit 620C, 630C, which may be formed as heat generators (e.g.
• the inner bottom face of base unit 520B, 630B is made with heat fins protruding from the bottom towards the inside of chamber 620, 630 respectively.
• These protrusions form heat fins 622, 632 respectively which in views perpendicular to the plane of view of Figs. 6A, 6B may have the form as depicted in Figs. 6C/6D or Figs. 6E/6F respectively, in which the protruding fins are described by the thick black lines.
• Tablets 650, 652 will then be formed respectively with recesses to fit loosely to their respective fins 622, 632. Further improvement in the heat transfer may be achieved by using CO 2 carrier material in a wet form, such as sodium bicarbonate solution or wet powder. As detailed above with reference to Fig. 4, according to some embodiments, C02 carrier material in tablets 650, 652 may be in a dry form and may be wet prior to heating by a fluid introduced into gas production units 620 and 630 via a fluid inlet (not shown). [0052] Heat may be produced, according to embodiments of the present invention, inside the tablet in the gas production unit, using induction heating mechanism. Reference is made now to Fig.
• heat energy supply unit 720C of gas generating unit 720 is formed as an induction AC electromagnetic generator, as is known in the art for induction heating.
• Tablet 750 includes, spread substantially evenly inside it, iron or ferrous alloys chips. According to some embodiments these chips may be made of other material having high magnetic permeability.
• Tablets made for use with induction heating may comprise certain amount of ferrous chips calculated to provide enough heating within defined period of time.
• the heat generating material may be carbon chips.
• the size, spherical density and the level of unity of dispersion of the chips in the tablet may be selected to achieve the required level of heating and the time required for that heating.
• tablets for the production of CO 2 gas may further comprise taste additives, flavor additives, color additives, and the like.
• Heating chamber units 720A and 720B may be made of non-ferrous metals which will minimize its heating when electromagnetic energy is activated.
• Figs. 8A and 8B are flowchart illustrations of methods for providing gas, such as CO 2 , for the production of, for example, sparkling drinks, according to embodiments of the present invention.
• a system including a pressure chamber and a pressure-sealed bottle-feeding pipe connectable to a bottle is provided.
• the bottle is filled with liquid and is attached to the system in a pressure sealed manner.
• CO 2 carrier such as sodium bicarbonate or other substance that includes carbon dioxide is placed in the pressure chamber.
• the pressure chamber is pressure sealed and in block 850 the pressure chamber is heated.
• fluid may be introduced into the pressure chamber from an external fluid source, such as from the bottle.
• the fluid introduced into the chamber may wet the CO 2 carrier in the pressure chamber and may serve as a thermal conductor.
• the CO 2 gas that is released from the carrier flows through the pipe into the bottle.
• Optionally circulating means may be activated to pump liquid from the container and spray them back to the headspace in the container. The gas is then dissolved in the liquid found in the bottle in block 870 to create sparkling drink.
• introducing fluid into the pressure chamber may precede the heating of the C02 carrier within the pressure chamber.

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